Nostalgic Children’s Songs, Folk Songs, and Nursery Rhymes: The Heart of Japan Passed Down Through Song

The Hill Where Mandarin Orange Blossoms Bloom

The Hill Where Mandarin Orange Blossoms Bloom – Shoko Haida

It’s a beautiful song that brings to mind the terraced fields where mandarins are grown.

For no particular reason, when you say “mikan,” I tend to think of Ehime, so I assumed it was about that region, but it turns out the model is Ito City in Shizuoka Prefecture.

It was even used as the departure melody at Usami Station and Ito Station on the Ito Line.

Although it’s a lovely piece, it seems it wasn’t very popular with boys because the pitch is quite high.

Seven-year-old child

♪ Seven Little Children – Nanatsu no Ko | ♪ Why does the crow cry? The crow is in the mountains ♪ [Japanese song / shoka]

These days crows are called pests, but in children’s songs they’re portrayed as cute and as admirable parents raising their young.

Not just crows—animals really do risk their lives for their children.

In response to the question, “Why do they cry (caw)?,” there was a time long ago when Ken Shimura sang, “Because crows do whatever they want,” and I hoped people would take it as just a gag.

But it didn’t quite work out that way, and there were cases where it became an issue for supposedly spoiling the sentiment.

Harvest Moon

♪ Full Moon on the Fifteenth Night – 15-ya Otsuki-san | ♪ Full Moon on the Fifteenth Night, how are you, dear Moon? [Japanese Song / Shoka]

Some of you may have heard the song, but when thinking about the moon, I think many people are more familiar with singing “Usagi, usagi” (Rabbit, rabbit).

This song was composed in the Taisho era, and it is a lonely, heartrending song in which a girl, left alone on the moon, speaks to someone.

Since she had a nanny, she must once have lived in comfort, but the lyrics tell how her mother has died and her younger sister was given away—an expression of Noguchi Ujo’s distinctive world.

Come, spring

Yumi Matsutoya – Come, Spring

This song is set in Itoigawa City in Niigata Prefecture, where the snow runs deep.

It tells of a little girl who has just started walking and sings of her hope to walk outside in spring, when the snow has melted, wearing red jojo (traditional straw sandals).

I think not only Mii-chan, who is waiting for spring, but everyone living in the snowy country was waiting for the thaw and the arrival of spring.

Red Shoes

Red Shoes – Akai Kutsu | The girl who wore red shoes [Japanese song / shoka (school song)]

When I was little, I pictured a girl wearing red shoes, and I actually felt a bit envious of her.

But this song turned out to hide a truly sad story.

The girl’s name was Kimi-chan.

Due to circumstances, her mother couldn’t take her in and entrusted her to an American missionary couple.

However, just before Kimi-chan was to leave for America, she contracted tuberculosis, which was incurable at the time.

Taken into an orphanage, she fought the illness but passed away at the age of nine.

Her mother never learned that Kimi-chan had died.

Through a certain connection, Ujo Noguchi learned of this story and wrote lyrics that expressed the mother’s feelings.

It’s truly heartbreaking.

The Hare and the Tortoise

Bunny and Turtle – Usagi To Kame | Hello, hello, Turtle, dear Mr. Turtle [Japanese Song / Shoka]

It’s a children’s song that’s still sung today, and I think its content is very admirable from a moral standpoint.

The hare makes fun of the world’s slowest turtle, but in the end, by mocking his opponent and slacking off, the hare loses to the very turtle he called slow.

These days, I’ve heard that at some elementary school sports days, everyone holds hands and crosses the finish line together so the child in last place won’t feel bad, but in the turtle’s case, it wasn’t about winning or losing—it was the result of giving his absolute best.

Desert of the Moon

Children’s song: Desert Moon (Aiko Anzai & Takako Kawada)

This was one of the songs I was bought on children’s record discs when I was little.

Since a camel appears in it, as a child I thought it was a song about a princess and prince from some foreign land, but decades ago, when I passed by Onjuku Beach in Chiba Prefecture, I remember thinking that this must be the model for it.

It’s written with the character for “sabak(u)” as 沙漠 rather than 砂漠 because 沙 can mean a seashore.

It’s one of the most romantic songs among Japanese children’s songs.